Dear Parents and Carers,

The half-term holiday is here and the children have a week to relax and refresh before the last half-term of the school year.

Please note that school will re-open on Tuesday 2nd June.   School is closed on Monday 1st June for staff training.  NSSport holiday club will be open from Tuesday 26th May until Monday 1^st June.  Details of how to book can be found on the NSSport website: https://nssport.co.uk/

This week in school

May Fair

What a fantastic May Fair we had on Sunday!  It was lovely to see so many families and children past, present and future, enjoying the day.  Our wonderful school community spirit was clear for all to see.

Huge thanks go to everyone who helped to make the day such a success – the May Fair organisers, Julia Taylor and Sandia Furtado, our PTA Committee and our PTA Chair, Solange Ronfini, and all those who helped on the day and in the build-up. 

A message from the PTA 

A huge thank you to our PTA Committee, families, staff, sponsors and everyone who attended and supported the May Fair and Sponsored Cycle Ride. Together we achieved an incredible result for our school community!

We would also like to extend a special thank you to the Finance and online support team for all their hard work and support behind the scenes in managing and finalising the fundraising totals.

We are very excited to share our overall fundraising results ..

May Fair fundraising (excluding the Cycle Ride)

Total Takings: £13,200.70
Expenses (to date): £4,024.03
Net Profit Raised: £9,176.67

Sponsored Cycle Ride fundraising

Total Raised (to date): £9,823.42

And the grand total raised for 2026 is a truly fantastic £19,000.09.

Thank you to everyone!  

Every penny raised will be used in school to buy essential resources for the classrooms and to enhance our school site and grounds.  Currently we have plans to replace the play equipment in the Adventure Playground area.  We also need to replace our teaching screens in the classrooms.  Mrs King and Y4 were delighted to see their new screen being fitted this week.  This would not have been possible without your support!  Thank you so much. 

And don’t forget, there is still time to sponsor our Richmond to Roubaix Cyclists via JustGiving at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/richmondtoroubaix2026

Also this week…

Y6 Residential Visit to Osmington Bay PGL

The Y6 children have had a wonderful three days away at PGL near Weymouth.  They have been on a giant zip-line, they have built a raft and rowed it in the sea, they have climbed and abseiled to name just a few of their activities. Their enthusiasm, perseverance and support for one another has been fantastic to see and both the children and the staff will definitely sleep well tonight!  The children were an absolute joy to take away and we are very proud of them. 

Y5 Cooking lessons

Our Y5s have been developing their cooking skills this week as they prepared and cooked Spaghetti Bolognaise from scratch.  They were all very pleased with their efforts and are keen to showcase their skills to their parents at home.  Thank you to our parent helpers!

Y2 Great Fire of London Day

Y2 thoroughly enjoyed their ‘Great Fire of London Day’ on Thursday and their costumes really took us back to the 17th-century!  We lined up the children’s Tudor Houses to recreate the narrow streets of London, just as it was in 1666, and we created our very own "Mini-Great Fire"!

To finish the day, the Freshwater Theatre Company took the children on a time-travelling workshop.  The children met characters from the past and took part in storytelling to uncover how the fire started.  The cost of the workshop was £5.50 per child. Thank you to those who have made payment. If you have not yet made payment for this workshop, we would be grateful to receive this. 

Y4 Celebration of the Word Assembly

Yesterday our Y4 children led our Celebration of the Word on the theme of Mary.  Children re-enacted scenes using scripture from Mary’s life through: The Annunciation; The Visitation; The birth of Jesus and The wedding of Cana.  The Y4 children explained that when we pray The Rosary we remember significant parts of Jesus and Mary’s life.  We learned that Mary is a role model for us and we were encouraged to use her example in the choices we make.

Richmond Music Trust Primary Singing Festival

Congratulations to the Junior Choir who took part in the Richmond Music Trust Primary Singing Festival this week. 

The Singing Festival is an annual event that brings together primary schools from across the borough to perform at the Rose Theatre in Kingston and celebrate the joy of singing.  Both children and parents thoroughly enjoyed the performance.

National Year of Reading Go-All-In campaign

On Wednesday, as part of the National Year of Reading Go-All-In campaign, Reception, Y1 and Y2 joined in a nationwide online celebration of reading.

The event showcased how children can use storytelling to explore the world around them. Inspired by Stanley's Stick (written by John Hedley), they stepped into a world where imagination leads, music stirs curiosity and a simple stick can become anything at all.  The event started with a performance of Stanley's Stick accompanied by the Northern Chamber Orchestra and continued with an interactive workshop, where children contributed to the story.

Information for Parents

St Elizabeth’s Instagram

You can follow us on Instagram for more photographs of our activities and please do share the link with family and friends, past parents and future parents at https://www.instagram.com/stelizabeths_richmond?igsh=b3p6NWJhaGViaWtw&utm_source=qr

 School Polo Shirt

The new polo shirts will be available to buy at Dolphin House during the half-term holiday at a cost of £10.  The polo shirts are not compulsory and children will be able to continue wearing the open necked cotton shirt or the collared shirt with a tie in summer.  Children will return to full winter uniform with a shirt and a tie after the half-term break in October.

Save the Date! Cream Tea - Friday 5^th June at 3:15pm

Join us for a Cream Tea on Friday 5^th June on the KS2 playground.  The Y6 parents and children will be selling scones with jam and cream with tea and cold drinks as a fundraiser for the Y6 end of school activities.  As it is the Year of Reading, we are going to be encouraging families to read together during the Cream Tea and all children will be able to take home a free book.  Please see the separate emails which will be sent home after half term.

Thank you for taking part in Walk to School Week this week.  Our Eco-Ambassadors carried out a pupil survey during the week and the class with the most journeys made by alternatives to the car was Y4. Well done everyone! 

Message from the Pupil Chaplains - Mary's Meals

Thank you for sending in your envelopes with foreign currency in them for Mary’s Meals.  These are being sent to Mary’s Meals and the money will be used to provide a hot lunch to 3 million children across the world who otherwise would go without.

Upcoming Dates

JUNE

1^st   All day   INSET Day: School closed for staff training

3^rd   All day   Borough Sports Athletics tournament for KS2 athletics team

4^th   All day   Reception visit to Bocketts Farm

5^th   a.m.   Y6 and Y3 visit Richmond Synagogue

5^th   3:15 p.m.   Cream Tea provided by Y6 on the school playground       

8^th   Duckling eggs arrive

8^th to 12^th   All week   KS1 Phonics Screening

8^th to 12^th   All week   Other Faiths Week – Judaism

9^th   a.m.   Y6 ‘Choices’ workshop

11^th   9:10 a.m.   Y5 Class Celebration of the Word Assembly

11^th   p.m.  Opera Workshop for Schola and Music Ambassadors

16^th   p.m.   Y5 London Schools’ Literature Festival

17^th   All day   Y1 visit to Kew Gardens

19^th   All day   INSET: School closed for staff training

22^nd   a.m.   Y4 and Y5 visit to Morden Baitul Futuh Mosque

22^nd to 26^th   Catholic Social Teaching Week in school – theme of Dignity

23^rd   a.m.   Individual school photos

24^th   All day   Schola and Music Ambassadors’ visit to Opera at Holland Park

25^th   All day   Chaplaincy Retreat day at Aylesford Priory

25^th   All day   Battle of the Books competition at St James’s School for Y4 team

26^th   All day   Chaplaincy Retreat day at Marymount                   

29^th – 3rd   All week   Other Faiths Week in school - Islam                                     

 Values Awards

Congratulations to the following children for living our values this week.

Reception: Thomas and Fernando

Y1: Sherwin

Y2: Clara

Y3: Dominik and Venetia

Y4: Dylan

Y5: Charles

Attendance and Punctuality

Well done to Y5 for having the highest attendance this week at 97%.  Congratulations too, to Y4 for having the best punctuality with the least number of lates.

Have a lovely half-term break,

Jane Hines and the staff of St Elizabeth’s